Chapter 16
Ashley waited paitently for Chris. It was 11:45, and she had been ready for a while. She sighed and went into her kitchen. He red notebook had been sitting there since she and Justin had returned from her hometown. She picked it up and flipped throught it, reliving some of the memories the words held. She turned the page to one poem that she remembered all to well. She fought back tears as her eyes skimmed the words.
She was broken from her trance when she heard Chris' voice accompanied by a knock on the door. Ashley went and opened the door smiling.
"Hey!" She said cheerfully, forgetting the sorrow she had felt moments before.
"You ready to go?" He asked, looking her over. She wore a pair of cut-off jean shorts, and a white wife beater. Underneath the strings of her bikini showed through.
"As I'll ever be...let's go." She grabbed a bag that included a towel and some other clothes as they walked out the door. She followed Chris to his red PT Cruiser and hopped in. He sat down and started the car. Soon they sped down the road.
"Who's going to be there?" Ashley asked curious at what a 'small party' was suposed to be like for *NSYNC.
"Let's see...well, us of course, and some excutives, and our techies and our dancers, oh everybody that works for or with *NSYNC. It's a big, congratulations on your tour and album kinda party." He said with a smile.
"Wow...sounds like a lot of people. Will there be enought room?" She said worried.
Chris laughed a bit. "Oh you have no idea. The WEG compound is just that. a compound. Is huge, you'll never know that everyone is even there."
Ashley chuckled a bit and then was silent. The rest of the ride was without conversation, both of them just looked out the window and listened to the radio.
~*~
Chris and Ashley pulled into a parking lot infront of a orw of buildings. Ashley's eyes widened a bit as she saw the enormous grounds. It was like a whole community. She smiled to herself, of course Johnny would have a place like this.
She followed Chris out to a backyard that held a basketball court, a volleyball net with beach sand, and many more games all facing a beautiful lake. There were quite a few people standing around, chating lightly and eating. Ashley noticed the rest of the *NSYNC members and Wade all standing infront of a huge buffet table. She laughed as she saw Joey loading more food onto his plate.
"Hey Guys!" JC called as he spotted Ashley and Chris walking closer. He walked over and gave Ashley a hug. "Hey, good to see you." He said with a smile.
"Thanks, I decided to be Chris' date for today." She told him, as the walked over to the rest of the group. Wade and Joey gave her a hug, and Ashley looked for Justin, but she couldn't find him. It was probably better, becuase last night she had decided that she would try and spend a little time away from him, so she wouldn't lead him on.
Ashley grabbed her own plate of food, and took a little bit of salad, and some fruit, and followed Chris to a picnic table. She was about to take a bite when she heard someone call her name.
"Ashley!" She turned to see Justin walking towards the group at a trot. He smiled as he came closer to her, and sat down. "I didn't know you were going to be here. I was going to invite you, but you weren't home." He said, breathless from his exurtions.
"Chris invited me." She said with a smile. She couldn't help but notice that everyone was starring at the two, watching to see what would happen.
Justin also noticed and cleared his throat getting up from the table. He had decided last night, after JC had talked to him, that he would try and give Ashley space, giving her time to sort out her feelings. But he was also going to let her know that he was there. he didn't know why, but he felt the need to protect her, and be with her.
Justin grabbed a plate of food, and sat down next to JC, away from Ashley. He glanced at her, and she was having a convresation with Wade. He watched her as he said something, and she smiled. He face lighting up with laughted, her eyes sparkled and everything seemed brighter.
Justin watched as Chris went over and talked to Ashley. he overheard him say that he would introduce her to everyone. His eyes followed her as she got up from the table, taking Chris' hand.
Ashley followed Chris around, saying a polite hello to everyone she met. There were a lot of people, and it was intimidating to her. Everyone seemd nice enough, and she was enjoying her visit with them. She had just finished saying something to one of the *NSYNC dancers when she turned and bumped into someone.
"Oof! I'm sorry..." She said, looking at who she bumped into. She froze in place as the man brushed himself off, and smiled at her.
"No, that's ok. I wasn't looking where I was going." The man infront of her said with a smile. Ashley swallowed hard, and was thankful when Chris walked up beside her.,
"Ashley, this is Steve Macentyre. He's our publisist, you know, he handles all the arangements for photo shoots, and things like that." Chris smiled as he introduced the two. Ignoring as Ashley's eyes widened at the mention of his last name. She was thankful when Steve hadn't seemed to notice who she was. "Steve, this is Ashley Ri..." Before Chris could say her last name, she thrust her hand forward.
"hello Steve." She said with a forced smile. "I'm sorry, but I need a drink Chris. I'm going to go get one, nice meeting you." She said and quickly turned away. Chris watched in confusion as she walked away.
"I'm sorry about that Steve, I don't know what's wrong with her." Chris apologized.
"That's ok...what was her name?" Steve asked, knowing her face was familar, but he wasn't quite sure why.
"Ashley Richardson...She's done some dances for us." Chris offered. As Steve heard her name, a lightbulb went off in his head.
"Richardson huh?" He asked to no one impituclar.
~*~
Ashley quickly got herself a drink and sat down. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She felt someone sit next to her and she turned to see Justin.
"God you scared me!" She exclaimed.
"I'm sorry...I..Are you ok? You looke like you've seen a ghost."
"No...I...nevermind." She glanced at her watch. It was only 2. She had been there for 2 hours, but she needed to leave, or atleast get away from Steve. She looked at Justin a thought crossed her mind. "Do you want to take a walk with me, I need to get out of here." She said standing up. Justin accepted her invitation, not knowing what was wrong, but determined to find out. Ashley looked terrible, her face pale and her eyes dim. Something was upsetting her, and he was determined to find out.
Chapter 17
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